Striking a New Deal
by WedJes.Writes
Summary: Coraline is eight days from her 18 birthday, but her disagreeable personality has left her without anyone to celebrate it with. In a moment of weakness, she accepts an offer that she quickly comes to regret, but her friends won't let her go that easily however. Mystery kids- Coraline, Gravity Falls and Paranorman
1. Chapter 1

Coraline watched as her breath curled from her mouth in the cool Oregon air.

The sky was an inky navy blue, sprinkled with white glittering stars, and the forest in the distance was a jagged black silhouette on the horizon.

It must've been midnight, or close enough. Which meant she had eight hours? Maybe nine? She never knew what time sunrise was meant to be, she never kept track of it and now she was finally starting to regret that.

That wasn't the only thing she regretted however, in fact that was rather low on the list now.

She took her phone from her pocket, and looking past the huge spiderweb of a crack that it had recently been given, she saw that she had eight unread messages. It seemed a bit pointless to check them now though, especially if she ended up having less time than she thought she did. Coraline sighed, and put her phone away again, instead looking to the road which she had been pacing for the last hour or so. That in itself was another waste of time, but it hardly seemed to matter either.

Nothing mattered anymore.

She'd made a stupid mistake, an awful, horrible mistake that had ruined everything, it had ruined her life.

She had had another encounter with the Other Mother.

Being seventeen was not the easiest thing in the world, this was obvious,

And Coraline was not the most well-tempered of people, as everyone knew, more than most, being her close-knit group of friends. Friends who she had recently all told to 'fuck off', some with those exact words, and others by just ignoring them until they stopped trying to contact her.

As of late, her temper had smouldered into a few bouts of rage, bouts which had all caused more than their fair share of trouble when they reared their heads.

It had almost lost her her job at the movie rental store when she had snapped at a customer,

It had gotten her a two-week suspension at school when she had spoken back to and insulted a teacher,

But most worryingly, it had built somewhat of a barricade between her and her friends. Two people who had suffered the most from this were the Pine's twins, after a moment of anger had led to her lashing out at Mabel. Harmless Mabel, who had somehow managed to push all the wrong buttons at once.

As far as Coraline was concerned though, none of it was her fault.

If people would only listen to her, if people only understood her, if people only had time for her. Instead of _assuming_ what she wanted or needed, and _assuming_ how she felt.

It wasn't her fault, it was theirs.

The last straw had come a few days earlier however, during the task of planning her eighteenth birthday party.

Her parents had suggested a gathering at their home, presided over by them of course, but Coraline had quickly squashed the idea, and had decided to arrange it herself.

After only a few hours however, it became abundantly clear that the event was not going to go ahead, as all but three of her invites had been downright rejected within minutes,

In real terms, there was a very real and simple reason for this, but Coraline of course was blind to it,

Her recent bitter personality was the deterrent.

The teen had taken it as yet another case of her being forgotten and left behind, and that was when _she_ came back.

0o0o0

Coraline was just getting home from work. The late autumn sky was dark, and in turn her bedroom became a shadowy space at the top of the house.

She collapsed onto her bed as soon as she got into her room, not even bothering to take off any layer of her clothing- it was cold up there anyway, so she didn't mind.

What she did mind however, was the feeling of a set of eyes on her.

This was not uncommon, it was a feeling many people got just before sleep welcomed them. An anxiety that interrupted their clear minds and made them pause, allowing their imaginations to run wild in the worst possible ways to explain what the watching eyes belonged to.

Being a grown young woman, Coraline was inclined to ignore the unsettling sensation, and instead curled in closer to her covers. She was tired, and in this moment cared more about sleep than anything else. Sleep was a refuge from all the crappy stuff going wrong in her life right now.

She fell into a heavy sleep quite quickly.

When Coraline woke up in the late hours of the morning the next day, an experience unlike that of most people struck her however,

The feeling of being watched hadn't budged.

Coraline sat up in her bed and rubbed at her blurred eyes, pulling at her short but knotted hair, and wincing at the ache in her scalp.

She couldn't determine the location of the odd feeling, but it certainly wasn't subsiding.

After perhaps a minute of looking around, her gaze fell on the culprit however, and she froze solid on her bed, one hand still over one of her eyes, as they widened, and her jaw dropped.

Back lit by the white sky visible outside of her bedroom window, was a small, old chair. It sat away from everything else in her room, rather bizarrely, and it faced her bed perfectly. If it had been vacant, it wouldn't have appeared all that out of place. It seemed like a place a parent might sit, watching over a much younger child, or indeed a seat a young child might take to play alone.

But the chair was not vacant at this time,

It was playing host to a doll, a doll Coraline knew all too well.

It held her visage, as it had last time, but it was completely up to date.

The hair was still blue, but the bob was now asymmetric. The clothes were dark, black trousers and a purple polo t-shirt, her uniform for work. The legs of the doll were crossed, the arms hung at its sides, and the large, shining button eyes were staring over at her.

This had to be some sort of cruel joke,

Not many people knew about the events from her youth, since it had happened, she had only told a few more people, including Dipper, Mabel, Norman and Neil, whose own adventures made hers seem somewhat tame.

Norman often joked at how odd it was that they had all found each other.

Regardless of anything that had happened as of late though, they wouldn't have brought this back to haunt her, would they? As some awful punishment for being such a horrid bitch. Or rather, a 'misunderstood teenager' as she saw herself.

Coraline stood from her mattress and quickly went to pick up the doll.

She clutched at it and brought it closer to her face, and immediately all suspicions of her friends' involvements melted away.

The doll was _just_ like it had been before.

It smelt of ancient must in the same way, it was the exact same proportions, it even weighed the same in hand,

Overcome by a terrified chill suddenly coursing down her spine, Coraline dropped the doll and backed away quickly. It really was _her_ , there was no mistaking it.

After an unsettling silence, the teen finally moved again, picking up the doll but refusing to look at it.

It was very simple, she would stop this ordeal before it even began again.

Coraline yanked on a thick jacket to combat the cold on the way out of her room, and tucked the doll away in her bag. She rushed down the stairs, skipping as many as she dared, and barrelled from the back door, to where her old, rusted and unloved bike lay on the decking.

Without hesitation, she hoisted it up and sat on the firm, unyielding seat. There was no time to complain however, as she began to ride swiftly up the hill at the far end of her garden, her destination clear in her mind.

It wasn't long before Coraline had to ditch her bike at the treeline, as it became too thick to ride through, and she instead continued on foot, mud now encasing the soles of her shoes and low tree branches pulling at her clothes.

No one had passed this way in a long while, or at least if they had, they hadn't cared to make the path clear.

When Coraline broke into the clearing where the well had once rested, she was taken aback, even falling again into a catatonic state.

The area was grey and black, but not left colourless by the bad weather. It was more like she'd wondered into an old black and white film, save for a small house that sat at the centre of the clearing, standing right where the well once had.

The house was in colour, and looked like a caricature or an illustration from a child's book.

The proportions were off and the colours weren't quite right,

Regardless, warm orange light poured from the windows, and ignoring the unsettling obscurity, the place was nothing but welcoming.

Coraline knew better than to fall for tricks like this though.

She swallowed deeply to push down any creeping fear and cautiously started towards the house, treading lightly as she went,

The closer she got to the place, the warmer she felt, and she briefly even considered removing her jacket.

When she got to the door, she paused and strained her ears to hear anything from within,

For a second, she thought she might have heard humming, gentle, musical humming, but it was gone as soon as it came, and she was left in silence.

Coraline placed her hand on the door handle, and the cold metal made her fingers feel numb, she persevered all the same however and pushed the handle down until she felt the door give. Taking another deep breath to steady herself, she then pushed the door open with a surge of strength.

She let go of the handle, and it hit the inside of the wall, making the metal clatter on the wood, and birds in the distance craw and flap away.

The inside of the house was empty.

The place was a regular shack, the outside wasn't colourful or house like, there was nothing casting light out of the windows, in fact they were too murky and dust covered for anything to be seen through them.

The only thing held within the small wooden box was the muddy floor, the open mouth of the well cut into it.

Sense overcame Coraline, and with a sigh she realised that the shack had likely been built to stop people from stumbling down the well. What she had seen was simply her fear fuelled mind conjuring up an image that would scare her, the same way the feeling of being watched did when you were trying to sleep.

At that moment, a gust of wind rolled by, and Coraline looked behind her, as a cluster of leaves were scooped up and rattled along the ground.

She then turned back to the open door of the shack,

The white, cracked and pealing face of the Other Mother was an inch in front of her own.

Before her body could react, before it could even process what was happening, a sharp, tight grip clutched around her waist, and Coraline was yanked forward and down, down plummeting into the pitch darkness of the well.

0o0o0

Coraline woke in the darkness, briefly having forgotten what had happened.

She had become unconscious sometime on the way down the well, perhaps when she hit the ground, and was now sprawled across the wet, muddy floor,

She sat up, attempting to make not a single noise and looked deep into the blackness, squinting at the void.

After a minute of looking about, Coraline concluded that there was absolutely no way she would be able to see anything around her, as the only light source was the thousands upon thousands of stars twinkling above her.

A sky full of stars in the middle of the day.

Coraline then remembered that she had her bag with her, and after a few minutes of rooting around in the dark, her hands becoming slick with mud, she found it. Immediately, her hand brushed the unmistakable shape of the doll, and she flinched. She then shook her head and gritted her teeth, ignoring it, and retrieved her phone instead.

She turned the device on, and found the button for the torch, casting a white beam of light across the uneven floor.

When she was sure that her surroundings were clear -even if they seemed to be unending, as if she were in a field of some kind- she stumbled to her feet.

As soon as she did, she heard the scuttling of feet.

Half a dozen pairs working through the mud.

The light from Coraline's phone fell on something shiny for a moment, and she paused.

The light found it again, only a few feet away, and she was able to make out what appeared to be a long metal pole sticking out of the ground.

Realisation dawning on her, accompanied by the feeling of bile rising up her throat, Coraline slowly panned the light upwards,

Standing over her, looking down with those large, round eyes made of polished, painted wood, was the Other Mother, indescribably twisted and malformed.

Coraline squealed and fell, dropping her phone as she went, and making it cast the light directly upwards, illuminating the Other Mother perfectly, and creating a shadow twice her already gigantic size.

"Miss, me? You, little, _bitch_ " the creature rasped, each word laboured by a painfully desperate breath,

The teen attempted to shuffle away, but she couldn't take her eyes off of the monster, and as such, she only got closer to the girl, stooping more and more so that their faces were level.

"This isn't real" Coraline tried to assure herself,

But it only earned a sickening laugh from the Other Mother.

Her movements held a sound similar to a pair of scissors cutting through fabric, and in that moment, the noise sounded, as one of her sickeningly long and sharp hands came up to Coraline's face, taking it with just enough pressure to hold it steady, but not pierce the skin,

"Oh it is child" the Other Mother told her, "This is so very real" her voice had now turned to a whisper, and it filled the teens ears, as each word slithered in, "You thought you'd killed me, but you gave me an in-" perhaps more worryingly, the Other Mother's voice then took on a musical tone.

"What?" Coraline had asked, quivering,

"You're unhappy, so unhappy, and you want things to change" she explained, "And all I want to do, is make things better for you",

"By sewing buttons into my eyes?" the young woman had replied, finding a little more courage, "By feeding off of me?",

"Death" the Other Mother laughed, thrusting her face closer again, "You're describing death. And yes, that's what I'm offering to you",

This left Coraline confused, never had the creature been so forthcoming about her motives and intentions, there was always a trick, always a game- so what was the game this time?

The monster chuckled as the look of confusion fell over the girl's face, "I know you've thought about it",

Coraline felt the pit of her stomach turn to ice and drop out,

She couldn't dent it. She had thought about it. Just once or twice, just in moments of weakness.

She had thought-

"And who would notice if you did?" the Other Mother then asked, as if reading her mind, "I'm offering you a week of blissful paradise, and then the sweet, succulent release of death, what could be better?",

"A week?" Coraline asked,

"You're no use to me as an adult. In eight days everything will be over one way or another, so why not give you one last wish?" the beast hissed,

She then loosened her grip on the girl's face, but scuttled closer still, her voice dropping even lower in volume, "It's the ultimate escape. An escape from family, friends, work and all those other things that make life unbearable. _Life_ is unbearable, and I'm offering the opposite",

In the following hours, Coraline had come to regret this moment more than anything she'd regretted in all her life.

"Would there be pain?" she asked, the colour having fallen from her cheeks,

"No" the Other Mother answered, and a malformed smile twisted up her black lips, making the cracks in her face deepen,

Coraline had for a moment, shown weakness, and the beast before her knew exactly how to take advantage of that.

"I'm making you a promise"

The teen finally looked up to stare the monster in the 'eyes' "You'll give me eight days?",

"We'll call it a week" The Other Mother replied, "I vow, from sunrise tomorrow, seven days of wonder here, with me, and then freedom from this mortal coil, no more worries…"

0o0o0

Coraline woke at dusk by the open well, the wooden shack and all traces of it gone.

She went home, ate dinner with her parents, told them that she loved them, and went upstairs to her room, entirely numb to everything that surrounded her as she drifted through.

She lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling, until the house became dark and quiet enough to let her know that her parents had gone to sleep.

This was as long as she could stand it.

Tears started to roll down her cheeks from her eyes, they were in a constant stream that wouldn't stop until an hour later when she had literally been run dry.

What had she done?

She'd made a horrible decision, a horrible, inescapable decision to allow an awful thing to happen to her. It was as bad as killing herself outright, in fact it was worse.

Coraline stood from the bed after a while, choosing to make the most of whatever time she had left, even if the rest of the world was sleeping through her last hours.

She left her house and began to wonder, following familiar and unfamiliar roads to their turns and conclusions.

The air was cold and the sky was dark, and she was sadder than she'd ever been.

A thousand plans ran through her mind, each less helpful and likely than the last, there was no hope, Coraline doubted that there was a single place in Oregon she could escape to that would stop the Other Mother- if anything, the mysterious stretches of Gravity Falls seemed even more dangerous, there were probably burrows and warrens that the beast could use to find her there anyway.

Perhaps the only solution would be to get out of state?

It took just over seven hours to ride up to Seattle from Ashland if she took route five, there had to be that many hours before sunrise, if not slightly more, but how the hell would she manage that anyway?

She couldn't drive, not a car at least, she'd tried and been terrible at it,

Motorbiking on the other hand, she was better at, or so she was told by her ever faithful instructor,

But she didn't own a motorbike.

Coraline paused in the middle of the road,

She didn't own a motorbike, no, but her _instructor_ did, and he didn't live that far from where she now was.

Anything was worth trying at this point, she was desperate,

She picked up the pace and made her way further down the road, making two rights and a left, until the house she was aiming for came into view, dark and as quiet as it's secluded surroundings,

The teen went to the garage door first and pulled on the plastic handle mounted to the middle of it, but the metal sheet would not move. For the first time in months, he'd locked it, probably under instruction from his grandmother.

Coraline sighed and made her way around the side of the garage, coming to the old, slanted wooden fence that separated the thin forest land from the back garden. She climbed over it with ease, as she had many times before, and as she found her footing on the grass, she noticed a dim glow cast upon the garden,

The upstairs window above the garage was slightly ajar, the curtain wavered with the slight breeze, and a light stood on within the room.

Coraline looked about the garden once more.

There was no sign of the bike, it must have been in the garage- so that was it, there was no chance for to her to even attempt to get away.

She felt the tears well up in her eyes once more, and her legs gave out beneath her,

Who was she fooling anyway? There was no way she could get away from this, she'd dug her grave, and now she had to lie in it, forever and quite literally.

For a while, the only sound to be heard in the garden was Coraline's laboured breath as tears streamed down her face, and her body convulsed with each hiccough. The only other noise came from the house; the open window with its flaked white paint, that clicked as it swayed in the wind,

Once the worst of the tears had subsided, the teen sniffled and looked up, catching sight once more of the illuminated window in question, her eyes narrowing slightly the longer she looked at it, a thought dawning on her,

If she was going to die, why not really live?

Coraline stood very suddenly, strength building in her legs, and determination now surging through her. She approached the drain pipe that ran along the side wall of the garage and pressed against it.

It was the old kind, not made of plastic, but made of clay, and it was securely attached to the wall, with brackets holding it in place dotted frequently up it, like vertebrae,

She placed one booted foot on the first of the brackets and she gripped the pipe just above her head,

Within a few minutes, Coraline had scaled the clay pipe in almost complete silence, and she now stood atop the garage, face to face with the window she was heading for.

Within she could see the room, still quite dark save for a dim yellow lamp standing on the desk, that threw a warm glow over everything else, and cast long, dark shadows.

She reached her hand through the gap into the room, taking hold of the small latch that held the window open at a set distance,

Coraline lifted it with force, and it nearly snapped off in her hand,

She dropped it however, more pressing matters in the forefront of her mind, and she let the window swing open as far it could go.

Taking just a final moment to watch the stream of warm breath leaving her mouth, Coraline then placed her foot on the windowsill and lifted herself into the silent room.

0o0o0

Wybie woke with a shiver.

He had fallen asleep far earlier than he had meant to, and was still half dressed, with a lamp standing on in his room, throwing off dim light that cast long, haunting shadows across the walls.

That was not the most unsettling thing however, as he instantly felt a presence in his bedroom upon waking, one that caused him to freeze on the spot.

Usually, he believed that he wasn't like his friends, he didn't deal with ghosts and ghouls, that had been a onetime thing, and despite the connection his grandmother had with 'the spirit realm', he was usually oblivious to the things his friends and family could see and hear.

So if that was the case, what was in his room with him now?

He tilted his head upwards a little, looking down his chest and over to the fluttering curtains of his window, which were obscuring a dark shape,

He held his breath, entirely unsure of what to do, but after a few seconds, the shape spoke,

"It's me Wybie" Coraline said, moving further into the light, so her face was just visible,

"Oh-" he sighed, shifting to sit up a little, "W-what're you doing here? It's so late",

The girl did not answer him however, and after an awkwardly long pause, she very slowly began towards the bed.

Wybie watched curiously, sitting up further still, that was until Coraline got to the foot of his bed, and did not stop, instead clambering over the frame with ease, and pausing atop the bedcovers on her hands and knees.

He felt his mouth grow dry at the very sight of her on his bed, let alone in the position she was in, and found that he could not move, even as she began to crawl towards him, her expression very vacant.

Before he knew it, Coraline was over his legs, stopping him from getting away, and her hand was reaching forward, catching the zip of his hoodie and pulling it down to reveal his plain t-shirt and releasing all the warm air that had been had clinging to him. Wybie licked his bottom lip nervously as her hands then came up to his shoulders, pushing his jacket off and down to the bed, trapping his wrists at his sides. Coraline's legs brushed against his, and he realised very suddenly that he wasn't wearing any trousers, only a pair of pinstripe boxers, and a burning blush crept across his face.

Wordlessly, Coraline placed her cold hands on Wybie's bare thighs, making him flinch and sink lower into his mattress. He could feel each of her fingertips casting down pressure on his flesh, all but holding him in place.

The girl's eyes were shaded in darkness, and her expression was blank, entirely impossible to read, even as she began to move closer to him again.

At first Wybie slunk his head back, afraid of whatever was happening literally in his lap, and wanting to keep Coraline's face in sight,

She was persistent however, and he gulped as her hot breath hit his throat, closely followed by her gently pursed lips.

The sensation made his hair stand on end, and his hands gripped the bedsheet all the tighter, a mixture of resistance and elation coursing through him

Despite the sheer bizarreness of the situation, Wybie couldn't help but revel in the feeling, letting it go on just a little longer than he thought he should, before finally untangling his hands from the sleeves of his hoodie and pressing them to Coraline's shoulders, pushing her away,

"Jonesy, what're you do-"

The words were caught immediately however, as the girl darted forward and captured his lips in a kiss, her hands coming to his chest and gripping his t-shirt, so he couldn't move back again.

The teen found that he didn't mind all that much however,

It was not as if this was something that Wybie had not thought about before, he had, and in detail, but something wasn't sitting quite right with him. Why now? And why was she acting this way?

He faltered again as Coraline's hand started to tug his shirt from the bottom hem however, and they briefly separated so that it could be yanked off, over his head, and discarded instead on the floor. Their lips didn't meet again however, as she instead went back to paying mind to his throat, her lips wandering to his collar, which was now uncovered. Wybie squeezed his eyes shut, and let his arms reach out and encircle Coraline, not wanting the moment to stop, even if he wasn't entirely convinced that the outcome to encouraging all this would be a good one.

Soon enough, her blue hair brushed his face as she reached up once more to kiss him on the lips, and this time he found himself kissing her back, holding her close.

To his surprise, Coraline was then the one to pull away next, and Wybie briefly worried that he had pushed it too far, as if she only wanted anything to do with him, as long as he made absolutely no indication that he was interested in her in return.

It seemed that he was wrong though, as it then became clear that she only moved away to give herself more space to undress, her jumper and then her shirt being tugged from her body and then cast to the floor.

Wybie wasn't sure where to look, there wasn't much choice,

Coraline was sat on top of him, dressed only in her underwear from the waist up,

He considered averting his eyes all the same, and almost did, until her hands suddenly came up and took his jaw, forcing him to look at her,

She guided him into another kiss, this one far more tender and sweet than those before, which were all passion and need,

Wybie was stunned to silence again, watching Coraline as her own silence finally broke, a deep sigh gushing out of her throat, and the words, "I want this, I want you" rasping out with it.

The boy winced slightly at hearing her speak, she sounded sincere at least, like she was in need, but he couldn't help but worry, she'd never said anything like this to him before,

"I- I don't understand" Wybie frowned, as she went to kiss his hammering pulse point on his throat,

"I don't want to think about anything else" she said in reply, shaking her head, as though it was enough to explain, and as such, she didn't need to say anything else.

Before he could speak again, Coraline attached her lips to his, her knees tightening around his hips as she barred down on him, his back nearly meeting the mattress as she pushed him further and further,

"Why now?" Wybie managed to ask, once the kiss finally rounded off, and the girl pulled back,

"It needs to be now" she answered quickly, looking down at him,

"But Coraline-"

Coraline winced and squeezed his arms, which she had rested her hands on, "Please Wybie… please" she said, shaking her head.

Wybie didn't want it to be this way. He wanted her, more than anything, but it seemed wrong somehow, she didn't seem herself,

All the same, when else would he get the chance?

He swallowed, and nodded, allowing her to press down against him once more, attacking with another onslaught of her lips,

"But Coraline-" he said after a second, his voice wavering as her hands found his hips, resting on the waistband of his underwear,

"Stop talking" she snapped in response, cutting him off, before she took purchase of the elastic, and began to pull it down. Her eyes drifted back up to meet his after a few agonisingly long seconds, "No words" she said softly, "Yes or no?",

Wybie swallowed thickly, before squeezing his eyes shut, and nodding his head vigorously.


	2. Chapter 2

Wybie woke lying on his chest, tangled in the bed covers.

Cold white light bathed the room, while bitter air hung about it, making the muscles of his bare back tense and spasm. He sighed and rolled over with one, long, strained movement, opening his eyes to stare at the ceiling, his hand coming to rest on his chest. Wybie was cold lying alone on the bed, he could've easily gotten up to close the window to remedy that of course, but his legs felt stretched, too weak to stand on.

He blinked. _Coraline was gone_ , she must've left through the window some time ago and now he was alone.

Wybie sat up, the blanket pooling in his naked lap, and he looked about the room. Her clothes were gone, but there were traces of her still.

The curved corner of his rug that she would always fold flat was pressed to the ground, his bubbling lava lamp was throwing off an orange glow, as she would always turn it on, and a folded note was sellotaped to his desk lamp.

Wybie wasn't sure whether to feel guilty. He had been so resistant to sleep with her, as much as he had wanted to, and he had given in in the end, because she was so persistent and apparently, had wanted it so much too. Wanted _him_ so much.

As unlikely as _that_ sounded.

So, had she left out of regret?

He supposed that really, there was no point to jump to conclusions when she had left him a note.

He twisted on the mattress and placed his feet on the ground, quickly finding his underwear from the night before and pulling them on as he stood. On his gangly, wobbling legs, Wybie made his way over to his desk and picked the note off from the cardboard lampshade.

It was short, only a few lines, but it was addressed to him and signed with her name.

 _Wybie,_

 _Thank you for last night, I had no idea how much I needed it until it happened. How much I needed you. You were wonderful._

There was then a large, blank gap on the page, as if the piece of paper she had chosen was ambitiously large for what she had to say.

 _I needed to go, I ran out of time. Have a good day at work_

 _-Coraline XX_

That was positive wasn't it? Odd undoubtedly, but generally positive in regards to him at least. And signed with kisses no less. Plural.

Wybie sighed and placed the note down on his desk, pressing his hand flat against it for a moment,

He then did a very unsteady turn, taking in the whole room again, just to be sure he hadn't missed anything else. No, there was nothing else.

It was just too weird to brush aside though, not just that, it was inexplicable. He had to find her, talk to her. Wybie had known Coraline for five years, but he had barely recognised her that night, something just wasn't right,

He dressed quickly, thinking at the last moment that he was probably in dire need of a shower, but concluding that given the situation, it could probably wait, and he slipped down the stairs, flying past the kitchen doorway on the way to the garage.

"Wyborn!"

Wybie winced and stopped mid-step, backtracking instead,

His grandmother was stood at the kitchen sink, her hands resting in the suds floating on the top of the slightly orange water,

She raised an eyebrow at him, giving him a suspicious look as she often did, "Did you shower this morning child?",

The teen suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious, it was likely that she could just remember the last time the rattling boiler kicked into life and therefore the last time he had washed, but the way she asked made him think she could just smell him from where she stood.

Wybie sighed and shook his head, "No, but I'm in a rush, I'll have one tonight okay?",

"But you haven't had any breakfast!" she added, stepping towards him as he tried to edge away, drying her hands on her apron,

"I'll get something on the way!" he insisted, finally getting to the interior garage door,

His grandmother was all but pursuing him down the hallway though, "Have you got money for that?",

Wybie grabbed his jacket from the work bench as he entered the garage and patted his pockets, grimacing as he found them empty- no keys,

"Wyborn?" she asked again, now watching expectantly from the garage doorway, "Where you goin' in such a rush?",

"To see my friends" he replied, now pulling cushions off of the misshapen couch he had dragged in there a few months ago. The couch cushions hadn't had any spring to them when he had first got it, and now they were even worse, heavy and firm, at the very least the ugly, but faded fabric cover didn't smell of smoke anymore.

"Coraline?" his grandmother asked,

"No" Wybie replied quickly, before shaking his head and throwing down the last cushion in defeat, "Maybe",

"Well do you need money for her birthday present? I know it's coming up soon",

"No, I- I've got that sorted out" he replied, slamming his hands into his pockets again, and shaking them so fiercely, the seams nearly popped,

"Well-"

"Have you seen my keys?" he snapped, cutting her off.

His grandmother quirked her eyebrow again and folded her arms across her chest, looking very unimpressed,

A deep blush grew on Wybie's face, "Sorry" he said quickly,

"Mmm hmm" she replied,

"I'm just in a rush"

"Mmm hmm" she said again, cocking her hip slightly,

"But _please_ , have you seen my keys?"

She took a deep breath, "Manners Wyborn, I expect manners in this house",

"I know!" the teen replied, frowning, "I said I was sorry, and I said please too",

His grandmother still looked mostly unsatisfied, but she nodded softly, and then rose a hand to tap her heart twice.

Wybie's expression went from concern to complete confusion, until finally, it dawned on him,

"Oh!" he sighed, putting his hand to the inside breast pocket of his jacket.

His keys sat at the bottom of it, along with a few crumpled receipts and a musty feeling that clung to his fingertips,

"Thank you" he said with a nod, approaching his bike and putting the key into the ignition,

"You gonna be back any time soon?" his grandmother asked as he pulled the garage door open,

Wybie flinched as freezing rain suddenly hit his face, and he groaned at the sight of the thick grey clouds and pale mist hanging about the road,

"It would be nice to know your schedule" she added,

"No" he responded, answering a little faster then he felt he maybe should've, "I don't know when I'll be back, sorry, but I'll call you at lunch time, and again when I'm heading home" he said, turning towards her. The brunette then reached into the front pocket of his jeans and plucked out his stubby, old phone, brandishing it with promise,

"Well okay then" his grandmother nodded, "Be careful out in that weather, don't need you coming off the road",

"You don't need to tell me" he added, collecting his helmet from the bench, along with his gloves and scarf that were bundled up inside,

"I know, I trust you, it's other fools on the road that I don't" she said with a sigh, now flattening down her apron.

That was true, Wybie had been driving on the roads of Ashland for long enough, and probably knew them better than most people. When his grandmother said she trusted him, he knew she meant it,

"I'll be careful, I promise" he said with a brief smile, before he covered what was becoming a look of concern once more with his scarf, and then pulled on his helmet, holding the fabric in place.

"It's cold, I'm going in" his grandmother then said, shrinking into her clothes,

Wybie lifted his hand in farewell, and proceeded to pull on his gloves, maintaining eye contact with her until the last second, when she closed the garage door and retreated back into the house.

As soon as she was out of sight, he let out a long sigh, making a hot, close feeling collect around his covered mouth,

He stepped over to his bike and straddled it, placing one foot steadily on the ground, and using the other to flip the kick stand out of the way,

The weight shifted on his leg and pressed against his inner thigh, that was anything but a new sensation however, and without a pause he turned the waiting key in the ignition.

Nearly four-hundred and thirty pounds of metal growled to life beneath him, and settling comfortably against the seat, Wybie twisted the throttle, letting the bike pull out of his garage and taper slowly a little distance down the drive way,

He rested it against the soaked fence panels that separated the house from the wilderness, and they immediately bent against the weight.

Wybie dismounted and rushed back to the house, slamming the garage door shut, making it wobble and shudder, before heading back to the motorbike, the seat of which was already covered by fat speckles of rain water,

There wasn't time to doing anything about it though, and to the best of his ability, Wybie ignored the unpleasant feeling of the water soaking through his jeans as he sat back on the leather.

Regretting his lack of goggles, Wybie then gripped the throttle again, sending the bike lurching across the blacktop, the rain streaking off of him as he flew through the grey forest.

0o0o0

The ride up to Coraline's house didn't take long at all, but by the time Wybie got there, he was already soaked through.

He rolled the bike over to a spot on the grass where the patio roof hung over and kicked down the stand so it was propped up in the shelter. Splashing through one large puddle, he then made his way to the stairs, heading for the front door.

It opened as he approached, and Coraline's mother peered out at him, wincing at the weather,

"Wybie?"

"Yeah, hi Mrs Jones" he nodded, pulling his sopping wet scarf from his mouth, and wiping away the raindrops that were clinging to his eyelashes, blurring his vision,

"Get inside!" she called, opening the door wider, giving him a larger gap to enter through.

Wybie jogged up the steps to the patio, and plodded to the door, leaving muddy footprints leading up to it,

"What're you doing here?" Mel asked, watching as he began to drip onto her welcome mat,

"I came to see Coraline" he replied, stripping off his gloves,

"She's at work, isn't she?"

The brunette frowned, "Oh" he replied, pulling off his helmet, "I guess she must be, sorry, I didn't realise",

Mel folded her arms but nodded, "Well you may as well stay here to dry off anyway, the rain might quieten down still. Let me get you a towel"

"Thank you" he nodded, starting to feel the bitter chill of being in wet clothes.

She opened the cabinet beneath the stairs and pulled out an old beach towel, tossing it to Wybie who was waiting patiently at the still open door, trying to keep from getting her carpet too wet,

"Thanks" he said again, wrapping it around his neck, and beginning to unbutton his jacket,

"Leave your shoes on the patio, and pass me your coat, I'll hang it up next to the boiler" Mel said, offering him a hand to take it,

Wybie nodded and peeled off the now very heavy denim jacket, handing it over to her once he had finally gotten it off, "Here",

"Great" she nodded, undoubtedly derisively, looking even a little offended by the drenched garment. She draped it over a hanger and went back to the cupboard to put it away, "Can I get you anything, a hot drink maybe?",

"No, I'm alright thank you" he replied, dabbing his clothes with the towel,

"If your sure" Mel shrugged, "Coraline must've gone to the shop pretty early this morning, we didn't see her at breakfast",

Wybie's brow furrowed, he thought it best not to tell her where her daughter had really spent the night, the majority of it at least, "Oh, did she say anything about starting early?",

"No" her mother replied, "But when was the last time she was courteous enough to share her plans with anyone?",

The teen frowned. It was true, Coraline had a tendency to just do as she pleased, without telling anyone just what that was, especially recently.

"Would you mind if I went to her room?" he asked, smiling softly,

Mel quirked an eyebrow at him, "Why?"

Wybie blushed, "Well- it's her birthday soon-"

"I know, she is my daughter Wybie" she said cutting him off, looking more suspicious by the second.

Mel mostly approved of Wybie as a friend of Coraline's, but she was still a little sceptical about her having a male friend in her room so often, especially at their age,

Given the current situation, the teen was feeling even more awkward then usual in regards to the implications she was suggesting with her suspicion.

"I just want to make sure she hasn't already got her present" he shrugged, "You know, I want to make sure she hasn't already got the same thing that I've bought her",

Mel stood silently for a moment, staring at him, "Alright" she shrugged, "But don't be too long",

"Ten minutes" he said with a nod,

"Go on" she concluded, "I'll be in the kitchen",

Wybie slipped his shoes off as she had told him to, and left them just outside the door, before he closed it behind him and started up the stairs- his wet socks leaving damp patches everywhere he stepped.

Climbing to the top of the house, the brunette made a beeline to Coraline's room as always, and sidled into the dark room, not wanting to touch anything if he could avoid it.

With the lights off, only the glow from the windows at the far end of the room allowed him light to see by, and they were casting a dim grey tint to everything,

Nothing seemed out of place or out of the ordinary, it was just Coraline's room as he knew it.

Over the years since she had moved to the Pink Palace, it had gotten a little more cluttered, and the once childish figurines and stuffed animals had been replaced with more age appropriate trinkets, most of which probably could've been mistake for odd symbols of the occult by those who didn't look close enough.

Coraline didn't believe in a lot of things, despite what she had been through as a child, but it didn't stop her from having a huge light up salt crystal on her desk for example. There was a collection of dream catchers hanging from her tall bed frame, many of which Mable had wound for her. And there was even a large bare branch of a contorted hazel tree propped up in one corner of her room, something which she and Wybie had found on a walk once, and that he had jokingly said she should take home, her being a 'water witch' and all.

Coraline was never one to back down from a challenge of course.

Then there were the smaller things, traces of her other friends, such as the few zombie statuettes Norman had gotten her the Christmas after they started working at the video store together, or the hand whittled dragonfly that Dipper had carved.

There was absolutely nothing to indicate where Coraline was now though, as she certainly wasn't here, and apparently had been for a few hours at least.

Wybie thought back to the night before, trying to remember what she had been wearing,

Unfortunately, his mind immediately went to how she had actually been wearing rather little, and he blushed ferociously as he pictured her in his lap again.

He shook his head and attempted to focus once more,

He thought back to when she was still wearing her shirt, still sat atop him of course, but mostly clothed at least.

It had been some plain dark shirt, but not her work uniform, so it stood to reason that if she was at work now, she would've had to have come back to her house to get dressed for it. It was best to check though he concluded, his eyes falling to her wardrobe,

Wybie frowned and approached the large dark wood box, grabbing a handle in each hand the pulling the doors open.

It didn't help that everything Coraline wore -including her work uniform- was all on the same amorphous scale of dark fabric.

The brunette sighed and considered searching through the clothes, the hung-up shirts at least, but thought better than to touch his friend's intimates… even if he had recently done some rather intimate touching of that friend.

At the sight of a pair of her underwear lying in the top of the hamper which had been shoved into the wardrobe, Wybie's face lit up with a burning flush, and he slammed the wardrobe doors shut.

As far as he could tell, her work uniform hadn't been in there, that was the _only_ take away he would admit to.

He sighed scratched the back of his head,

"Find what you were looking for?"

Wybie nearly jumped out of his skin at hearing the question, but instead opted to jumping to face the bedroom door instead,

Mel was stood watching him from the doorway, her arms folded,

"Oh- no" he replied, folding his hands behind his back.

She tilted her head a little and raised one eyebrow, pursing her lips, "What did you get her anyway?",

"What?"

"What did you get Coraline for her birthday?",

Wybie shrugged and dropped his eyes to avoid her gaze, "I don't want to say, it's going to be a surprise",

"Well I won't tell her" Mel replied, tutting, "I probably won't even see her that much, she doesn't even want me at her birthday", she sounded more than a little bitter.

"I know" the teen nodded, "I know you won't tell-" he then added, clarifying what he meant, "But I really want it to be a secret Mrs Jones, sorry",

She huffed and unfolded her arms, "Alright", she then sighed and shoved her hands into her jeans pockets, "Look Wybie, you should probably go, Coraline probably wouldn't appreciate you hanging around in here while she's not about",

"Absolutely" he said, nodding fiercely, "I'll get out of your hair",

He passed her swiftly in the doorway after that, knowing that she'd want to follow him all the way into the rain to make sure he left the house.

Sure enough, Mel held open the front door of the apartment for him as he pulled on his sopping shoes, and warm but still wet jacket, and she even watched as he ventured back out into the rain to get onto his bike.

0o0o0

During the drive into town, the rain began to stave off, but by the time Wybie pulled up outside the video store, it was still damp enough to keep people off the street.

He left the grey exterior of the town, and entered the warm but dark interior of the shop, signalling his entrance with the bell which rattled above him when the door opened,

The store was dead, but that wasn't the effect of the weather, that was how it usually was.

Wybie, his shoulders shrugged close to his ears and his hands shoved in his pockets, walked straight down the centre of the large room, passing the stacks and shelves full of films on both sides, and stopped at the empty till desk at the end, which was currently unmanned, or indeed, un-womaned.

He frowned and placed his still gloved hand on the bell that sat on the desk, and it let out a little ring,

A crash came from the back-room seconds later, and the door beyond the table opened, making artificial orange light stain the dark purple walls of the store,

An older gentleman stumbled out, adjusting his glasses as he went, and gaping at Wybie who was giving him a weak smile.

His name was Alec, and he owned the place. He was nice, if not a bit dim, and no one had the heart to tell him that no one rented DVDs anymore, especially now that streaming was so well established. It had been hard enough to get him to convert to DVDs after renting out videos for so long, but thankfully Coraline and Norman, both employees of his had never been involved in that first hand, they had only told the tales from older employees who had since left.

"Wemby?" Alec asked, slumping over to the desk, and gripping the back of the chair that rested behind it,

" _Wybie_ " he corrected, as he always had to, "I was just wondering if Coraline was in?",

"Caroline?" the old man responded, looking incredibly befuddled, "No, no. She was due to start at ten as usual, but she never came in",

Wybie wrinkled his brow, "Well did you try getting in contact with her?",

"No, no" Alec repeated, "Usually I'd mind, but with the weather as it is…" he trailed off, his eyes staring at the outside beyond the dozens of windows that made up two of the exterior walls, "I thought I'd best let her off today",

"Okay… well thank you" the brunette said, nodding to him and giving another awkward smile,

"I'll tell her you dropped by if she comes in" he said in response, "See you later Wemby".

As much as he wanted to avoid being out in the rain, Wybie definitely didn't want to hang around in the video store any longer than he needed to, and once he left the shop, he rushed across the street to a boutique of some kind which had left up it's shop wide cover out front.

He forced his phone out of his tight, soggy pocket and flipped it open, thankful to see that it has been left mostly undamaged by the rain,

Scrolling through his contacts, he realised that he had very little option when it came to who he should call. He knew that at the moment Coraline wasn't really on good terms with most people, so she would not only likely _not_ be with them, but they wouldn't be willing to help him find her either.

Wybie knew one person who there was still a chance with however, and when he came to the number, he didn't hesitate to dial it.

The line rang a few times, and then there a click,

The teen perked up a little, taking a deep breath in to reply to whatever welcome he was about to receive,

The voice that came however was pre-recorded,

' _Hi, you've reached Norman at the supernatural hotline. I'm not going to be able to answer the phone right now, I'm too busy fighting witches and zombies and talking to ghosts'_ -there was a giggle in the background, probably from Neil- _'Regular Norman hours will begin again soon, if it's urgent leave me a message. Thanks'_

The generic voicemail message then began, but Wybie hung up the call before it started recording.

He sighed,

There were no options left now, well, there was one, but they weren't going to like it.

0o0oo0

As Wybie rode up to Gravity Falls, it was as though the clouds began to part to welcome him, and by the time he was driving through the forest at just past midday, the sun had mostly dried off his clothes.

It was when the shape of the Mystery Shack became obvious between the trees that he realised that he probably should've at least tried to call ahead, but now he supposed it was far too late for that,

The road ahead curved, and Wybie followed the turn through the foliage, and out into the clearing that the shack stood in.

As he grumbled up the short driveway, he noticed a figure on the lawn watching his approach, clearly distracted by the loud engine of the bike. The figure was tall and slender, although not as lanky or skinny as Wybie himself. He was holding a spade in both of his hands, his pale wrists led up to sharp elbows which were crowned with the messily rolled up cuffs of a plaid shirt. He wore a pair of ragged grey jeans, and his usual blue pine tree hat over his chestnut hair, which was definitely on the wrong side of a haircut.

Wybie winced at the sight of him and slowed the bike to a stop near the entrance of the mystery shack, leaving it propped up in the sun.

He bit his lip and approached the other teenager, raising one hand in a half wave, "Hey, I realise you probably don't want to see me, but-"

"I haven't got a problem with you Wybie" Dipper said quickly, gripping the handle of his spade with both hands, "We're friends"

"I know, and we are, we definitely are" he replied, "It's just that I know-" he coughed awkwardly, "-obviously, I'm close with Coraline, and I know that you and she aren't really- aren't really talking right now",

Dipper frowned, but said nothing, instead pressing his boot onto the top of the blade of the spade, making it sink into the ground, "Why're you here then? To talk about her?",

Wybie shrugged, "Kinda"

The other boy sighed and stopped his digging before it had really begun, "Has she told you to-" he paused and shook his head, "What's she done?",

"It's less, what has she done, and more, where has she gone" he replied, "You haven't seen her in the last twenty-four hours have you?"

Dipper frowned, "What? No, of course not" he said, shaking his head, "After what she said to Mabel, I hardly think she'd come around here. What happened?",

Wybie frowned, unsure of exactly how much detail to go into, "Well, I saw her yesterday, and she was acting kind of weird, she didn't seem herself",

"Sounds like her usual personality recently, but I guess if anyone would notice something odd about her, it would be you"

"Yeah, well, she did, she seemed off" the taller said, nodding and putting his hands in his pockets, "And now, well now I can't find her anywhere",

Dipper frowned and shrugged, "Did you ask her parents?" he asked, begrudgingly showing a little interest,

"Yeah, her mom thought she was just in work",

"And?"

"Alec's the only one there" he answered, shaking his head, "I checked her room too, I don't think she went back there after being at my place last night",

The other paused and raised an eyebrow, "She was at your house _last night_?" he asked, "Did she stay over?",

Wybie hoped he wasn't blushing, but it was hard to tell under the warmth of the sun, "I- I don't really know" he mumbled,

"You don't know?",

"Yeah, I just fell asleep, and when I woke up in the morning she was gone, I guess she could've gone at any time",

The other brunette frowned, "You know what she's like, she's probably just gone up to Portland or something",

"No, no, I'm sure that's not it" he insisted,

Dipper looked up at him, "Why are you so sure?",

Wybie faltered and bit his lip briefly, "It just feels too weird",

"Weird? Weird like how?",

He took a breath to steady himself, "Weird like- well you know, weird like, _our_ kind of weird",

The phrase 'our kind of weird' while innocuous enough to the normal person, if not a little grammatically upsetting, had a much greater effect on Wybie and his circle of friends.

Dipper breathed deep too, and with his heavy grip on the spade, it sunk deeper into the thick mud, "Are you absolutely sure Wybie? You _know_ what that means",

"I know, and it's not a joke, or just something to get you to help me. I really mean it" he said nodding, almost pleading with the other teenager to be believed,

"Okay" he nodded, finally lifting his hands and rubbing them together to get the sting of friction to subside,

"'Okay'?" Wybie asked, watching him,

"Okay, I'll help" Dipper said, nodding to him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ow" Dipper grumbled as the windowpane swung down and cracked across his skull,

"Shit, sorry" Wybie said with a wince, going back to the window and holding it open wide so that the other teen could climb into the room,

"Thanks" he replied as he found his footing in the bedroom, his hand rubbing his cap sorely against his battered scalp.

Wybie wasn't proud of it, but guessing that Mel probably wouldn't let him back into Coraline's room in a hurry, let alone with Dipper at his side, he had instead suggested that they go around the side of the Pink Palace, and 'let themselves into her room'. That was a less illegal sounding way of saying that they would climb through her window.

"Where did you look?" Dipper asked, glancing about the room,

"Eh, just the wardrobe really" he replied, "I only had ten minutes"

"Right" the other teen nodded, "Do you know where she hides stuff?" he suggested, absentmindedly flicking a windchime hanging by the window, making it twinkle with sound.

Wybie quickly reached out and grabbed hold of the chimes, so that their music ceased suddenly, "We've got to be quiet" he whispered, "Charlie's office is downstairs",

Dipper nodded his understanding and started into the room, stooping to look under the desk and at the lower shelves, "What're we looking for?" he asked after a few moments, now flipping though some stacked books.

"I don't know, you're the one who knows about weird _stuff_ " Wybie answered, opening one of the window seats to find it filled with old toys,

"Weird stuff is a given in Coraline's room" he said with a shrug, pointedly frowning at some of the statuettes she had received from Norman.

"Suspicious stuff then" he nearly snapped in response,

"Sorry" Dipper sighed, "I'm just still having a hard time taking this seriously, or you know, _caring_ "

"I know, but it would mean a lot to me if you were a little more concerned at least"

"Honestly I'm struggling to figure out why _you_ care so much, if you hadn't noticed, Coraline can be, well- a nasty bitch sometimes-" he said with a grimace, "-even to you"

Wybie frowned, he was of course, completely right.

"Yes, I know that, but she's still our friend"

"Debatable" Dipper added, opening a desk draw and staring down into it,

"She is" he replied, "Whether you admit it or not, she is still your friend"

The other teenager shrugged softly, "I guess, she's just a _bad friend_ , on occasion"

"Just because friends can be _difficult_ sometimes, doesn't mean you give up on them" Wybie was now finishing with the last of the three window seats, annoyed that he'd found nothing out of the ordinary, but thankful at least that he hadn't stumble onto anymore underwear, or indeed anything that would cause more concern for her wellbeing.

"Hmm" was Dipper's reply as he gave anther glance to the shelves he had already searched, "Nothing is screaming 'suspicious' to me, how about you?" he asked, sliding his hands back into his jeans pockets,

"No" the other replied with a sigh.

"Then I'm not sure why I'm here" Dipper shrugged, ambling back over to the taller teen and pivoting impatiently on his heels,

"Maybe we're just not looking in the right places" Wybie replied, shaking his head, "Where else would she go? Where else is simpatico?"

"What's that?"

"'Simpatico'? Like friendly to, or compatible" he explained,

"No, what's _that_?" he repeated, pointing towards the bed.

The other followed his hand and spotted a dark purplish, sort of greying blob, just poking out from under the bed, obscured by the hanging covers and the small table it was jammed against.

"It's her bag!" Wybie replied, rushing to the bed and yanking it free,

"Well that's not exactly _weird_ , but is it odd" Dipper frowned,

"It is?"

"Yeah, I mean, she wouldn't go anywhere without it right?"

The taller of the two rolled his eyes, "Why? Because she's a _girl_?"

The other rolled his eyes right back, " _No_ , because Coraline is like me, she carries about a thousand things and always has her bag" as if to prove the point, he then tugged on the strap of his own satchel, which was slung over his body, resting on his hip,

It was true, now he mentioned it, Wybie wasn't sure he'd ever seen Coraline without this old thing, except for perhaps the night before, but he had been rather distracted.

He shrugged and looked back to the bag which he had placed on the bed, "Isn't is like, _rude_ , to through someone's bag?" he asked,

"Given the fact you're so worried, I think she'll forgive you" Dipper replied, unzipping it, "That, and we've already searched the rest of her room, her privacy has already been invaded"

"Point" he nodded, before placing one hand into the bag, grimacing as he did.

He was met with a cold, plastic surface and he lifted out the item, weighing it in hand,

"Her phone" he said, turning it over, revealing the badly cracked screen that was splattered with mud, "She definitely wouldn't go anywhere without this"

"It's pretty messed up" Dipper frowned, now reaching into the bag himself, "Wait-" he started to take out more things, "-wallet, keys, ID- you're right, this is getting _weird_ "

Wybie wasn't glad that he was right however, he had been dreading hearing those words from the other boy.

"What else is in here?" he then asked, putting down the phone and regarding the bag once more,

There seemed to be many of the usual things, crumpled receipts, tins of lip balm, loose change and gum wrappers. However, at the bottom of the bag lay a shape he couldn't identify- it was made of fabric mostly, save for an odd, rigid core. The material was strange to the touch too, not soft or comfortable against the skin, in fact it was almost coarse. _An umbrella perhaps?_

Wybie took hold of the item and pulled it out, other bits and pieces tumbling out of the way as it came up.

As soon as it came into view and he recognised just what it was however, he quickly dropped it onto the bed and backed away,

"Shit"

Dipper sighed defeatedly, "It's a doll"

It was indeed a doll, a doll which held the visage of Coraline as she was now, at seventeen years of age. The doll looked worn though, old and even a little flat, as though all the stuffing had started to compact beneath the fabric,

"You know what this means don't you?" Wybie asked quietly, feeling his hands start to shake at his sides,

"Of course I do" he replied gravely, "Coraline told me what to write in the journal"

0o0o0

The ride back to the Mystery Shack was a quick one, Wybie drove way above the speed limit in the places he knew he could get away with it, and sometimes even the places he wasn't so sure about. The additional weight of Dipper gripping onto the back of the bike made it all the more dangerous, but now that they were both on the same page in regards to the seriousness of the situation, neither minded putting themselves in harm's way so much.

The corner round to the shack was quite possibly the worst part of the journey, and once the bike finally came to a stop, they were both glad to have their feet back on solid ground,

"Come on, they're in the attic" Dipper said heading for the cabin, wobbling on his first couple of steps, but then breaking into a jog,

Wybie quickly dismounted and followed him up to the porch where he was waiting, holding open the door to the gift shop.

It had been a little while since he had been in the Mystery Shack, but not a huge amount had changed,

"Oh hey dude" Soos said with a nod as they rushed past the counter, "You here to help Dipper with the holes?" he asked, leaning on the table top and watching them, "We're putting up a fence" he then added,

"I'll finish it up later Soos!" Dipper called, already half way up the first set of the stairs,

"Sorry!" Wybie added, as he too slipped through the doorway leading to the steps,

"Oh come on dudes!" Soos whined, "I got no help right now! Wendy's still on vacation!"

They were far too distracted to reply however, and by now the teenagers were almost on at the next flight of stairs leading to the attic.

The room had been converted into a permanent office and bedroom for Dipper since he had moved more definitely to Gravity Falls, while Mabel had taken Grunkle Stan's bedroom, after it had undergone a deep, _deep_ cleaning,

These days, Stan and Ford were somewhere in the Adriatic ocean, sending postcards whenever they could.

"One, two, three and-" Dipper paused, reaching into the back of his desk cabinet, the one that was filled with nothing but his notes, "Four" he concluded, placing the journals on the desk top, "Just in case", he added with a shrug,

Journal four was of his own creation, having been started about two years earlier when journal three was fit to burst,

It also contained the page on the Beldam.

"Better start with that one actually" Wybie said taking up the thick book and turning it over, "So we have a starting point and-" he paused, frowning,

"And to make sure it is her" Dipper concluded, "We don't want to get ahead of ourselves"

"Yeah, that too" he nodded.

The page on the Beldam was fairly extensive- Coraline had always been rather resistant to talk about the events of her childhood, but after a thorough bout of persuasion by Dipper, she had told him everything she could, in the interest of never letting it happen again. That was something she couldn't stand the idea of, someone else falling victim to the Beldam, and her winning.

Wybie froze at seeing Coraline's handwriting in the margin of the page- she had added in extra notes once Dipper had done the bulk of the writing,

The ink she used was like a late-night sky in colour, and she'd done her very best to use her most perfect handwriting, with swirls and flourishes to each letter.

The images had been sketched by Dipper; there were buttons, small drawings of doors, keys and little triangles with circles in the middle of them- the lost things finder that had been provide by Spink and Forcible. Unfortunately, neither lived in the Pink Palace anymore, they had been moved to an old folk's home several miles away. At first they felt rather spurned, as though they were being cast aside by their respective families, but then at finding that they were far closer to a much larger theatre, they soon quietened down.

"I know all of this" Wybie sighed after a few moments of reading; he knew the story of Coraline and Beldam the best out of all of their friends, "I was barely involved last time, she figured it all out by herself",

"There must be something we can do" Dipper replied, "I mean, you gave Coraline the doll the first time, right?"

"Don't remind me" he groaned in response, rubbing his eyes tiredly,

"And then your grandmother told you about her sister, the little girl that Coraline had seen the ghost of?" the other continued, ignoring his self-pity,

As far as he was concerned, there was no time for that, he just wanted to understand the facts of the situation, and to lay them out one by one.

"Yes" he nodded, sighing,

"Could we go to her? Your grandmother?" Dipper suggested,

He shook his head, "She didn't know anything about the Beldam, all she knew was that one day she had a sister, and the next she was gone"

Thinking about the great-aunt he never knew always made Wybie a little sad. He knew that many people didn't know their more distant relatives such as that, but living with his grandmother for most of his life anyway, he liked to think that were she still alive, he, his grandmother and his great-aunt too would all live together.

"Hmm" the other teen said with a frown, "So then you intercepted the Beldam when she was trying to take Coraline to the well?"

"Kind of" Wybie said with a shrug, "It was her hand"

"Where is the well?" Dipper asked, reaching across his desk to take up an ordinance map of Oregon,

"You won't find it on the map" he replied, waving it away dismissively, "But I know where it is" he added.

"Care to share?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow,

"It's just up the hill from the Palace, there's a woodland path that leads to it, but it's mostly overgrown now" he said with a shrug,

"And the other entrance to the 'Other World' is in the apartment, right? Behind the little door?"

"Yeah but apart from the fact that we're not getting back into the Jones' apartment in a hurry, they've also had it covered again, by a layer of brick" Wybie said, frowning.

"So our best bet is the well?"

He raised his brow at the idea, "I guess"

"Then let's go?" Dipper said with a shrug, quickly closing the journal and starting from the room,

The other blinked and followed him out, only to be stopped once more when he got to the bottom of the stairs.

Mabel was locked in conversation with her brother, brandishing a leaflet of some kind, covered in brightly coloured text,

" _Maybe_ " Dipper said with a wince, "I'm just kind of busy right now"

"Busy doing what bro-bro?" she frowned, pushing out her bottom lip into a pout, her expression quickly changed when she caught sight of Wybie stood behind him however, "Wybie?"

"Hey Mabel" he said with a half wave, "How are you"

"Err, good" she replied, "What're you doing here?"

"Just a quick catch up" Dipper said quickly before he could respond, "But now it's time to go, so we'll be back later, bye Mabe" he said, expertly skirting around his sister, and swiftly making his way down the set of stairs she had been blocking off.

She pouted once more and then turned back to Wybie, still looking incredibly unsure about his presence,

"It's nice to see you Mabel" he said after second, smiling what he hoped seemed to be a genuine and convincing smile,

The girl dropped her tensed shoulders and smiled back, "You too Wybie, take care" she nodded.

Wybie returned the gesture and headed the way her brother had gone, meeting him once more on the porch outside and thankfully missing Soos on the way.

He was thinking about Mabel still by the time he got there however, he couldn't help but feel guilty about everything that had happened regarding her. To put it simply, Coraline had said some more than unkind things to the Pine's twin, things that cut so deeply that even Mabel found it hard to forgive her. As the person closest to Coraline, Wybie had of course also lost contact with Mabel.

There were more present issues at hand however,

"I know we're in a rush, but maybe don't try and kill us this time?" Dipper asked as he threw Wybie's helmet to him,

The teenager caught it and nodded, "I'll try my damnedest" he nodded.

0o0o0

About half way up the hill by the Pink Palace, Wybie and Dipper had had to dismount the bike and continue on foot. The path was dense these days, completely covered by overgrown trees and shrubs, most of which were scattered with thorns and rash inducing leaves.

They whined and complained as they fought past them, until Wybie finally suggested that they take a break in a clear stretch,

"I've never been here before" Dipper said, wincing about at their surroundings, "It's kind of, grey?" he suggested,

The forest was indeed grey, and the trees that barricaded them in at that point were no exception. The overhanging sky was filled with swirling, but lifeless clouds, and the mud coating their shoes was colourless too,

Wybie nodded, "It's always been like this"

"Little odd wouldn't you say?"

He nodded again, not taken aback by the suggestion- he had often thought that himself, "The well is a secondary entrance to the Other World, the Other Mother drains the life from her victims. When she's desperate, she must take the energy from the environment too"

"Hmm" Dipper said, taking a bottle of water from his bag, "Solid idea" he said taking a sip from it, "I'll add that to the journal I think" he added, offering the other teen a drink,

He gladly took it, "I'm honoured", he then took a large gulp of water, "Coraline said that all the furniture in the apartment was made from giant bugs, they were kind of like _her_ henchmen. Mr Bobinsky's mice were also rats in disguise, they were her scouts. Rats and bugs are the sorts of things that would be in the well, that must be where she gets them from"

The other frowned briefly, taking the bottle back from him, "You seem to have given this a lot of thought" he said, putting the cap back on it, "For someone who doesn't usually 'want to get involved with this sort of thing', that is"

Wybie grimaced and remained silent.

But Dipper clearly wasn't accepting silence as an answer, "Come on, that's almost reaching my level of supernatural analysis. Why have you put all these ideas together?"

He took in a deep breath and held it for a moment, rolling his neck about a few times, "Because I was worried" he said, releasing the lungful of air,

"Worried about what?"

It was obvious that Wybie wasn't comfortable sharing his reasoning, and he once again craned his neck, as though there were a trapped nerve in it that was giving him pain, "Coraline?" he suggested, "And I was worried that what happened to her, could happen again?" he then winced, "And it did" he added,

"We don't know that" Dipper replied quickly,

"I thought for a long time after it happened" he went on, almost as though he hadn't heard the other's attempt at reassuring him, "First I was trying to figure out how any of it was possible, and then after I realised that it was _impossible_ to actually explain, I tried to understand aspects of it individually. I tried to rationalise the details, in case it became important in the future",

A sort of respectful silence fell between them.

Dipper and Wybie had never been the closest within their friend group, and Dipper had never realised just how smart the other was, or how similar they really were,

"And that's all I do" he replied, smiling over to him, "That's what the journals are. I know I can't explain anything that happens in Gravity Falls, not really, I think my head would implode if I even tried. But I write down everything I can, and make educated assumptions, that way I have a good idea of how to deal with stuff when it shows up"

Wybie lifted his head and gave a half smile in response, not quite knowing what to say, "We should probably keep going" he added after a little more time,

Dipper nodded and stood, looking through the thick wall of branches again.

They started through the foliage and haze, their clothes snagging on the especially sharp twigs that they passed,

"How long has this well been here?" Dipper asked after few minutes, pulling his sleeve over his hand so he could more comfortably take hold of the brambles that were getting in the way of the path,

"I don't know really, just that it's been a long time" Wybie replied with a shrug, "It was around when my grandma was a kid, and way before that I think",

"What was that phrase she uses about it?" he said, wincing as he tried to remember himself,

"She said that it was so deep, if you fell down it, even in the middle of the day, you'd see a sky full of stars above you" he answered, narrowly dodging a spiked branch that was swinging towards him, having been dislodged by their movements thought the forest,

"And what is that meant to mean exactly?"

"I'm not too sure" Wybie shrugged, "That it's dark maybe?"

Dipper frowned, "Then why would there be stars? Stars are lights" he paused, feeling his converse starting to sink further into the wet ground, "Maybe it means that when you fall down the well in the day, it's so deep that you travel far enough to end up _somewhere else_ altogether, somewhere where it's night"

"The Other World" he nodded, climbing up onto a solid rock that protruded from the ground,

The shorter of the two sidled onto a thick tree root to the same effect and stopped again, taking his chin in hand as he thought, "The well, it's surrounded by mushrooms isn't it? Like toad stools?"

Wybie blinked and nodded, "I thought you hadn't been there before?",

"It was a guess" Dipper replied, "Circles of toadstools mark gateways, they're called fairy rings. They mark areas of danger or ill-fortune; some people think they might be places where witches used to cast, like where they burnt fires for their cauldrons, making the spot barren so only mushrooms could grow there. The fungi grow deep underground, feeding on nutrients"

"You sound a bit like encyclopaedia sometimes" Wybie then said, jumping down from the rock and trudging up the path where it started to increase in altitude,

Dipper let out a gruff sigh, "I know" he admitted.

Soon enough, they broke the tree line, climbing the rockier side of the hill where they could to keep the mud and harsher foliage away.

The clearing was as plain as Wybie remembered, if not more so,

They immediately made their way to the centre, spanning the grey mud tiredly,

"So?" Wybie asked, folding his arms and looking to the other boy,

Dipper put his hands on his hips, looking down at the wide, flat circle of mud that lay in the middle of a ring of tiny mushrooms, "It's about what I expected" he said, shrugging.

The other quirked his brow and gaped at him a little, "Really? Because I wasn't"

"No?" he replied,

"No!" he said shaking his head, "I thought it would be open, or at the very least the mud would be disturbed"

"But surely this is a good sign?" Dipper replied, now folding his arms across his body too,

"How is this a 'good sign'?" Wybie replied, starting to get aggravated.

The other seemed taken aback, mostly because Wybie was the last person he'd expect to get angry at something so simple, "Because maybe it means that the Beldam isn't involved?",

This didn't satisfy him, and he shook his head, "No" he said resolutely, "Don't do this. I'd only just gotten you to agree with me, and now you're trying to get out of helping again!"

Dipper blinked at him, " _What_?!" he asked, partly offended, "Are you serious! I don't even _need_ to be here! But I _am_ , _helping_ you, and I'm _telling_ you that this could be a good thing. It might mean that Coraline's in no danger at all!"

"Think about it Dipper. Her bag was in her room, her phone was in it with her wallet and ID, and her phone was trashed, covered in mud! Something happened!" Wybie was shouting now- he wouldn't deny that he was being unreasonable, but he couldn't help it.

"And what?" Dipper replied, " _'Something happened'_? And _then_ she went back home, dropped her bag off, and then went right back to whatever disaster smashed her phone?" he said harshly, "It doesn't make any sense Wybie!",

"Maybe!" he yelled, "Maybe that's exactly what happened! We don't know!",

Birds resting in the trees far from the clearing suddenly jumped to life and scattered into the sky, disturbed by the screaming match that was developing between the two teenagers.

"You're right! We _don't_ know!" Dipper countered, cocking his hips and raising his brow defiantly,

Wybie frowned, realising what he needed to say to convince the other boy, "She left me a note",

He paused and dropped his offensive stance, "What?" he asked softly, "Why didn't you say anything before? What did it say?"

He sighed and shrugged, "It didn't say a lot, but she said that she left because she'd run out of time" he replied,

"'Run out of time'?" he asked, wincing at the choice of words, he then sighed and shook his head, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?",

"It- it's embarrassing" he admitted,

"Why would it be embarrassing?" Dipper said with a shrug,

A blush bloomed across the other's cheeks, "We- before she disappeared, we-"

He wasn't entirely sure he knew exactly what he was suggesting, but he quickly cut Wybie off when he could tell that he was struggling and when he figured out that it probably wasn't anything to do with the girl's disappearance, "You don't need to tell me" he said quickly, "Are you sure that's what she said? That she'd 'run out of time'?"

Wybie nodded wordlessly.

"So it sounds like she knew she was going somewhere" Dipper said with a sigh,

"Yeah, but not just anywhere, she seemed-" he came to an abrupt stop, searching for the right word,

"Scared?" the other suggested, grimacing,

He nodded gravely, "Yeah",

"So wherever it was that she was going, she was scared-"

"When have you ever known Coraline to be scared?" Wybie added,

"-and she also knew that she didn't need to take anything with her" he now began to pace, making a deep track in the mud, "-and she didn't even tell _you_ where she was going-" Dipper frowned, "-but she came to see you before she left",

"You know what that all suggests" Wybie said softly,

He nodded, glancing over to the still covered well and sighing, "Then I guess we're going spelunking-" he concluded, coming to a stop by Wybie, "-once we figure out exactly _how_ we're going to get Coraline back"

0o0o0

Wybie and Dipper made it back to the Mystery Shack in record time and they even managed to make it through the gift shop without being waylaid by Soos. They did not however, avoid Mabel,

She met them once more on the landing before the steps up to the attic, but so involved in their conversation, Wybie and Dipper didn't notice as she followed them into the office.

"Can we please talk now?" she asked as Dipper pulled a spare chair up to his desk for Wybie,

"Kind of busy right now" he said, turning on his laptop, "Try journal one" he then added, passing the book in question to the other boy, "Journal two can be a little difficult to decipher sometimes, but I can read it",

"Bro-bro?" Mabel asked, quirking her brow at him, "What're you doing?"

"Emergency" he replied, his eyes focusing on the glowing screen of his computer now.

"'Emergency'?" she echoed, "What kind of emergency?"

Dipper sighed, and gave her frown in response, "It's kind of, well-"

"A Coraline emergency" Wybie said, saving the other boy the trouble of admitting it,

Mabel looked between them, "Is she in trouble?" her voice was soft as she spoke,

"Yeah, yeah she is" the taller of the two young men answered.

Mabel reached across the desk and took up journal three, holding it to her chest, "What can I do to help?",

Wybie blinked, quite sure he'd misunderstood her,

"What?" he asked,

"Are you sure?" Dipper asked, giving his sister an unsure look,

"Definitely" she replied, nodding vigorously and sitting on his bed as she opened the journal in her lap, "So what're we looking for?"


	4. Chapter 4

"From what you've said about the Beldam, I think something like this might work" Dipper said, holding out his yellow legal pad to display the sigil he had been working on,

Wybie sighed and looked up, his head resting lazily on his hand- he had no idea what sigils really were, let alone what they could do or how one would be better suited for a situation than another. "Based on what?"

He shrugged and put the paper down once more, "How powerful she is? What kind of magic she uses? Stuff like that"

For a moment, neither spoke, they just sat and stared at one another. Mabel looked between the two of them and frowned,

"Let's say for instance, that it would work-" the taller boy began, "-how close would we actually have to get to use it on her?",

Dipper's cheeks flared pink and his gaze fell to the table, "She'd have to enter it?" he said, wincing.

Wybie groaned and rolled his eyes, "This is useless!"

"At least we've got something!" Mabel said quickly, her tone as bright and optimistic as ever, "It's better than nothing, we just need to keep reading, I'm sure we'll figure something out",

Neither of the boys said anything in return, but at least they weren't back to arguing,

"Pass me journal three again" Wybie said with a huff, holding out his hand to take it,

The other frowned but passed the book over all the same, "Can you go over the story once more?"

"Seriously?!" he snapped, letting the journal land on the table with a thump, "We've gone through it a dozen times, and you've written it down twice. What more could you possibly get from it?"

Dipper didn't answer, he only gave Wybie a cool stare in response,

He sighed, "Coraline moved into the Pink Palace, she didn't think much the place, didn't even find it that weird at first- except for the neighbours, I guess. Pretty quickly she found the well, she'd been using a divining rod and nearly fell into the damn thing, that's when I met her" the boy paused, licking his lips nervously at the thought of what happened next- _it had all been his fault of course_. "That evening, I- I was in the attic, I was trying to find some old pictures of the Palace or something. I figured Coraline might be interested-"

"Instead you found the doll" Mabel said softly, looking up from the doodle of a voodoo doll she had drawn,

"Yeah" Wybie replied, "It looked just like Coraline, even down to the clothes, they were the same as what she was wearing when I met her. I thought she'd think it was cool or something, so I dropped it off at her apartment. Her mom gave it to her for me, but Mel probably doesn't remember that"

Dipper nodded, noting something down in his scratchy handwriting, "And then she found the door, right? With a little guiding from the doll?"

"Yeah, but it was behind wallpaper. She got her mom to unlock it, but then found that it was bricked up too anyway-"

"Maybe the entrance isn't open during the day" the other said, cutting him off again, " _Or maybe_ , it's adults- those most unlikely to believe in the supernatural- maybe they're the ones who the entrance can't be revealed to!"

"It doesn't matter either way, they bricked it up again themselves a year later, _remember_?" he said loudly,

Dipper frowned, "I guess, you're probably right… although a sledgehammer is always an option of course"

Wybie gave him a warning look, telling him to steer away from that sort of thinking, " _Anyway_ , that night Coraline found the door open, the jumping mice led her to it, or at least the Beldam's jumping rats in their mice suits" he then slumped further into his seat, and his eyes fell back on journal three and it's smudgy, frantic writing, "Don't make me go through the rest again"

"But-"

"Yeah, I mean ghosts, mice circus', naked lady opera's, talking cats and treasure hunts- we get the picture" Mabel said quickly, speaking before her brother could continue his complaint.

"Don't forget the garden with living plants, the other Wybie who couldn't talk and the space behind the mirror" he said, clearly biting his tongue from saying more,

"I guess it _is_ a lot to go over" she admitted.

Wybie sighed and flipped through the pages of the journal aimlessly, watching as the accounts he had already read twice over flicked into view. It was only when he got to some of Dipper's newer pages that he stopped, his eyes skimming the blue inked words and familiar black symbols.

Of course, all of what he read was well-known to him, and not just because he had gone over it before, but because the new journal author had told him about it himself.

There were probably a dozen other pages that at least mentioned this particular entity in one way or another throughout all three journals, but Dipper had been the one to unite the notes, fitting as much as he could across a two-page spread.

Wybie frowned and took up his own notepad, marking down a few notes and sketching a hasty map that he copied straight from the page, "I'm going to slip out for a second, I think I need a change of scenery to get everything straight in my head" he said, standing from the desk and tossing his jacket over his shoulder.

The other boy looked at him, his eyes wide, "Oh yeah, that sounds like a good idea, I'll come with" he replied, making to get up as well,

"No!" he snapped, holding out a hand to stop him, "You'll make me go through that damn story again and we'll probably end up arguing some more"

Mabel nodded at her brother and a look of guilt briefly flickered across his face,

"You're probably right" he agreed quietly, "Go ahead, just make a note of anything you think of"

"Will do" Wybie said with a nod, "Back in a bit" and with that, he rushed from the room, eager to get his new _bad_ idea over and done with.

Dipper frowned and looked down at the sigil he had drawn, realising how circumstantial the situation would need to be for it to become useful,

"Cheer up Dip-stick" his sister said brightly, "I thought it was a really cool sigil-thingy"

He smiled sadly at her- that definitely didn't make him feel better about it, but at least she was trying, even if she didn't know what she was talking about. "Thanks" he said weakly.

Mabel's expression soon curved into a frown once she realised that nothing that she had said thus far had cheered her brother up. She looked instead to the 'notes' she had been making, which were in fact a page of colourful doodles.

Along with her little graphic of a very traditional looking voodoo doll (all button eyes and stitched together limbs), she'd drawn a large pumpkin with glasses, a dog with angel wings, a halo and a harp, a reverse mermaid with a fish head and lady's legs, several mice, dragon flies and cats, as well as a couple of happy little ghosts.

The girl paused and looked up, the end of her pen tapping rapidly against her legal pad as a thought started to form in her mind, "Hey Dipper?"

"Hmm?" he replied, snapping journal two closed,

"Where's your phone?"

Dipper's brow furrowed, "What? My Phone? Why?"

"I need to borrow it" she replied, sitting up in her chair and reaching across the desk, her hand open expectantly just inches from her brother's face.

"Why don't you use your own?"

Mabel rolled her eyes, "Waddles ate my charger again, _obviously_ "

The boy eyed her closely for a long moment before sighing and fishing his mobile phone out of his pocket, "Don't go snooping"

"Whatever Dip-Dip" she said, rolling her eyes and taking it. She unlocked the device quickly and navigated to the contacts list, scrolling through the few names there were until she found who she was looking for. A smile on her face, she pressed the call button and brought the phone to her ear, listening to the other line ringing.

Dipper's eyes widened, "Hey, what're you-"

She brought a hand up to cut him off, her grin growing wide, "Hellooo?- Yes, it's Mabel!"

Her brother watched as she stood from the table and began from the room, more and more worried by the thought of who she could be calling as the micro-seconds ticked by.

0o0o0

Wybie's map drawing skills weren't the best, but he at least thought he'd done a good enough job to find what he was looking for- although it was difficult to tell honestly. The forest all looked the same to him, not even funny branch formations or particularly interesting moss patterns stood out, unlike how they did for Pines twins apparently.

The kinds of landmarks Dipper had used to help guide the way didn't _actually_ help much at all, in all honesty- it had been a few years since the original map had been drawn and even the notable boulders and rocks had changed a little, at least compared to how they had been originally described.

Regardless, the teenager _felt_ like he was going the right way, and weirdly (although he was sure he knew why), that was enough for him.

All the same, whether his gut or self-confidence was encouraging him or not, he stopped after only ten minutes for a break, his frustration induced steam having run out.

Wybie sighed and came to sit on an old tree stump, the heals of his boots crushing through the powdery, rotten roots of the thing.

He knew this was a terrible idea, but it was _his_ terrible idea and he was sticking to it, he would even face any and all consequences that could come his way because of it. If it helped them get Coraline back, that was all that mattered. Anyway, if he was right and got his way, he'd work around whatever consequences there would be and everything would be fine, and they'd get Coraline back and she and he would-

Wybie sighed again and let himself fall back against the tree stump, his chest deflating- it was almost big enough for him to lie down on, with his feet still on the ground of course.

If he closed his eyes tightly and thought about it, _really_ thought about it, he could still feel her lips against his. He could smell her funny perfume and hear the noises she had made that night.

If he had had these thoughts about her just a week earlier and she had known he was thinking them, known he was thinking about her in _that_ _way_ , Coraline would've annihilated him, just torn him to shreds and left him whimpering in a well of his own self-pity.

Maybe now it would be different though, maybe now after all that had happened, he was allowed to like her like that. Maybe he was allowed to _like-like_ her.

He bit his lip and shook his head, he was probably thinking about it too much, he was probably taking it too seriously too. Wybie had to face it, maybe, just maybe, he'd been nothing more than a warm body, Coraline's last hurrah before she gave up on this world altogether. Either way, the idea left him sick to his stomach.

Having slipped his hands into his pockets, Wybie struggled to sit up again, once he had however, he slumped, his back arched into a crooked hunch. His eyes searched over the trees, cautious but mostly disinterested.

Dipper had mentioned a creature called 'The Hide Behind' a few times, warning him that going out alone into the forest was not always a good idea- 'when you looked out into the trees, sometimes the trees looked back at you', he said.

Part of him felt that if he was ever going to see The Hide Behind, now would probably be the time, mostly because he was specifically looking for something else. Knowing his luck though, he concluded that the creature probably was in fact lurking somewhere behind him currently, hence the name. He checked his peripherals briefly, looking for flashes of movement, but found nothing.

Wybie sighed, he knew he was procrastinating now, trying to find a justifiable reason to be distracted, but he also knew that no excuse would ever be enough.

He hoisted himself to his feet and regarded his map again, finding that he was perhaps only another ten minutes or so away from his destination. With a sigh he began to walk once more, half-heartedly keeping an eye out for the dozens of beings he had read about in the journals as he went.

He couldn't believe that this was the sort of thing Dipper busied himself with on the daily: walking around the cold forest, often finding nothing that would warrant a rare note to be added to his compendium. He had even enrolled at Mt Hood Community College to take a forestry class, telling several career advisors as he did that it was his intention to become a park ranger. In truth, he did it so that one day he could dedicate the entirety of his time to wandering about in the forest, whilst also getting paid for it. The money wasn't all that important to Dipper of course, but it would certainly help in the long run.

Wybie supposed that it was a good thing really, the boy having an idea of what he wanted to do with his life. Wybie himself had only gotten as far as working as an apprentice at a local mechanics a year and a half ago- now he pretty sure that he would be working there for the rest of his life, getting no further away from his home in Ashland than maybe Seattle, as Coraline had dragged him there a couple of times over the years. Other than that, he'd never been anywhere out of state.

Soon, the trees started to get closer together, the canopy overhead becoming a denser shield blocking out the sun. The teenager had thought it was dark before, but now it was more like the trees surrounding the well; it was grey, noticeably colder and so quiet that he became uncomfortably aware of his own heartbeat. Wybie even thought that he caught sight of his own breath hanging in the air, pale and wispy, as though it were winter and cold.

Somewhere in the distance, in a clearing between the black branches of trees and the dark foliage, he could see a stream of cold light cutting through the bleak, stifling air; steeling himself, he began towards the light, knowing instinctively that it was where he was meant to be heading to.

The path seemed to become easier underfoot as he walked on, guiding him quickly and securely towards the light. The closer he got, the warmer he felt, however the feeling of being watched also grew with each step. Wybie felt as though the beam of light was being cast from a giant magnifying glass just out of the sight, like the kind that children used to burn ants in the sun.

In the still of the small clearing it was stood in, each individual speck of dust passing though the column light could be picked out. They spun and swirled like a murmuration of birds, and after almost a minute had passed, the teenager realised that he had actually stopped in place just to watch the dust dance.

He shook his head, dispersing a kind of dizziness that he hadn't realised had settled over him, resting in his eyes.

Really, he supposed that he should have anticipated this sort of thing; the odd gut feeling he had, the strange, almost unnatural beam of light in the clearing, even his mixed-up sense of attention and priorities. Something was trying to trick him, trying to distract him into making a bad decision- he didn't need any of that though, he had been heading here of his own volition in the first place and didn't require anymore convincing.

Wybie's eyes followed the column of light from where it broke through the canopy down to the ground. It was pointing to his destination, like the aim in some classic video game, like the kind that Neil made them play.

He stepped over a thick tree root that marked a fresh hold and waded through the sea of ferns that sprouted high over the forest floor- he was a tall guy, over six foot in fact, but these wild things nearly came up to his waist. He was sure that there had to be all kinds of crap covering his boots and jeans now, not that it really mattered, it would just be typical of the kind of day it was.

The teenager stopped at the centre of the clearing, now about a foot away from the cold, harsh beam of light.

He was staring at a small stone hand that was protruding from the bushes, cast in the spotlight like an actor on stage. He was daring it to move, although he knew it wouldn't- that wouldn't be possible, not until he made contact with it.

He sighed, finally dragging his gaze away from the inanimate appendage and letting it fall to his own hand instead.

Coraline made fun of his trusty old skeleton gloves constantly- of course the ones he wore now weren't the exact pair he had owned when they met, he'd grown out of those years ago, but they were similar enough, and as such they were ripe for ridicule apparently.

Wybie ignored the onslaught of memories revolving around Coraline's laugh, and went instead to tug his gloves off, leaving his long hands bare and instantly colder- he'd always had poor circulation, now was no exception.

Holding his breath, he reached forward, taking into his grip the petit, stone hand and wincing as his stomach dropped and the muggy sweat of anxiety swept across his forehead. He felt like a sickness had overcome him suddenly, he was cold and running a fever, his limbs felt weak and his eyes twinged sorely in the light.

"Crossbones! I should've seen you coming!"

0o0o0

Wybie awkwardly caught himself from tripping, as he finally stepped back out onto the lawn surrounding The Mystery Shack an hour later. He frowned and shoved his hands deep into his pockets, his chin receding into the collar of his jacket as he made his way around to the back of the cabin style house.

Dipper and Mabel were sitting on the porch as he approached, and he nearly stumbled at the sight of them, worried suddenly that they were waiting for him.

Mabel looked beside herself with joy however, while her brother looked red faced and embarrassed about something; neither were saying anything, they didn't even speak when they saw Wybie heading towards them.

"Hey guys" he began, coming to a stop a few feet away from them, his eyes shifting between them, "What's going on?"

Dipper sighed and lumbered his head from his hands where it had been resting- he looked to his sister, clearly expecting her to answer the question,

"I called in come back up!" she replied, speaking proudly,

He licked his lips nervously and once more his eyes darted their gaze between them, "What do you mean?"

"I thought we could do with some extra help! I mean we weren't finding anything"

"I could've figured something out if you had given me a little more time!" Dipper insisted, "I'm sure I was almost onto something"

She rolled her eyes at him, "Sure you were Dip-o-matic"

The other Pines twin shook his head in response, but didn't say anything else, clearly quite bitter about the whole situation.

"Oh come on! You're just nervous because-"

"I am _not_ nervous" her brother snapped, cutting her off midsentence, "I'm not nervous" he then reiterated, now looking to Wybie again, as if trying to convince him (it wasn't working, the shade of red that his face was burning was too vibrant to deny), "I really think I could've worked something out with a little more time" he paused and gave a defeated sort of shrug, "But extra help is probably a good thing, I guess we were having a little trouble coming up with a plan, at the very least a fresh pair of eyes might see something we don't"

Mabel nodded, "That's more like it!" she cried, jumping closer to Dipper and throwing an arm around him, "I knew you'd be excited to see him! After all, you do have a massive crush on-"

"So who's coming then?" Wybie asked, now speaking over Mabel for her brother sake.

She realised what he was doing and pouted, although Dipper gave him a relieved, appreciative look,

"Out resident ghost expert of course"

0o0o0

"Crossbones! I should've seen you coming"

Wybie shielded his eyes against the burning flare of blue flame which now surrounded him, the forest having gone black and still beyond it. He dropped his arm and strained his eyes, his gaze now meeting with the singular eyeball entombed in a yellow brick pyramid which was floating in the air before him. "Bill is it?"

"It certainly is Crossbones, how many interdimensional beings do you know that look like this?" he replied, his garbled voice just as Dipper had described it, "Now what do want? I'm a very busy guy, you know?" he asked, gliding through the scorched, muggy air and coming to a stop right in front of the teenager,

"I'm here to make a deal" he said, grimacing,

Bill's one eye widened, "Really? I would never have seen that coming!"

Wybie felt like the entity was mocking him, but he chose to ignore it, "Do you know anything about the Beldam?"

"Old Button Eyes? Sure, I know that hag. Giving you trouble, is she? Back to her old tricks?"

"Are you strong enough to defeat her?"

The triangle paused at that and actually seemed to think on it, "Yeah! I mean, she's not all that, not even that strong anymore"

He licked his lip thoughtfully and took a step forward, "You'll help us then? You help us beat her, and in exchange I can give you what you want"

His eye narrowed and he swooped a few feet off to the left, gaining some more space between them, "How do you know what I want Crossbones?"

"Dipper told me"

"Ahh, of course, Pinetree is still meddling in my business, I bet he's told you everything about me" the entity then folded his arms and pouted- or at least seemed to, "I bet he told you to stay away from me too, so I gotta wonder, what's so important that you need my help?"

Wybie stared at him for a long moment -he was quite sure that making direct eye contact was probably a bad idea, but he couldn't help it- "My friend is in danger, I want to get her back"

"Which friend?" the triangle asked, "Is it Dragonfly by any chance? Your _lady_ friend?"

The teenager didn't respond.

He took a deep breath after a minute had passed and began once more, sure that his silence had been enough the answer the question, "If you help us, I'll give you a puppet, a form to inhabit", he concluded by extending his hand again, offering it.

Bill's arm stretched far beyond its regular length, reaching out to snatch the appendage, but the boy moved it at the last moment, holding it safely against his chest,

"On one condition"

The entity once more gave him a suspicious look, "Okay Crossbones, let's talk business"


End file.
